Merc columnist Sal Pizarro reports that Ann Hurst, a former senior editor at his newspaper for 15 years, has been hired as the managing director of Children’s Musical Theater San Jose. Pizarro says Hurst’s tenure at the Merc included a decade as the editor of the annual Holiday Wish Book. Since leaving the paper in 2000, she has had her own communications firm, specializing in strategic communications and Web site content development.